Which to use
“demeurer” and “déterrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,483
- “demeurer” frequency rank
- #37,783
- “déterrer” frequency rank
- 48266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demeurer | déterrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | S’arrêter assez longtemps en un lieu. — Note d’usage : Conjugué avec l’auxiliaire être. | Retirer de terre ce qui s’y trouvait caché, enfoui. |
Where the eye mixes demeurer and déterrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. demeurer (CVCVVCVC) and déterrer (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between demeurer and déterrer
A purely visual mix-up. demeurer (\də.mœ.ʁe\) and déterrer (\de.te.ʁe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demeurer is recorded at frequency rank #10,483, classified as averb, pronounced \də.mœ.ʁe\. déterrer is at rank #37,783, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.te.ʁe\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 48266, this pair ranks #180,280 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demeurer vs déterrer
Shared letters: der. Private to "demeurer": mu. Private to "déterrer": té.
"demeurer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "déterrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- demeurer ← ddemeurer · deemurer · demeruer · demeuerr · demeurerr · demeurrer · demmeurer · demuerer
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "demeurer" and "déterrer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "demeurer" vs "déterrer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "demeurer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déterrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,280 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demeurer" and "déterrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desserrer vs déterrer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #180,280 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.